“Honestly and sincerely remembering the late Sulli”… The sincerity poured out to ‘Jinri’ without a veil [28th BIFF]

The documentary film ‘To Truth’ by the late Sulli (real name Choi Jin-ri) has been released. Director Jeong Yun-seok expressed his sincere feelings in this work.

At 6:15 p.m. on the 7th, at CGV Centum City branch in Centum Nam-daero, Haeundae-gu, Busan, director Jeong Yun-seok spoke during a preview and GV (conversation with audience) of the movie ‘To the Truth’ (directed by Jeong Yun-seok).

On this day, Director Jeong said that this work is not different from his previous documentaries and emphasized, "When making a movie, I think about the main character. Not only for me, but the basic principle and ethics of documentary are not to cross the line by focusing on the main character." . He said, "I never look down at the main character from above. I try to get to eye level, but since the main character was sitting on a chair most of the time, I remember often kneeling down and asking questions."

Director Jeong chose a scene from the entertainment program ‘Night of Malicious Comments’ as an impressive scene in the work and one that well represents the personality of the deceased. He said, "Didn't Shin Dong-yup appear? I was there and I burst out laughing at that scene. I laughed, but no one laughed." Sulli asked, "Do you think men and women should be equal?" and Shin Dong-yup said, " “Yes, of course,” he replied, “Then you’re a feminist too,” and he said, “It was a scene that clearly summarized the uncomfortable views on feminism.”

Director Jeong said, "It was simple, but in fact, that was the core. There was a conflict in Korean society at the time related to feminism, and I laughed for a moment because I thought Sulli had clearly summarized it." He added, "I remember saying to the actor at the time, 'You were really cool today.' “It flies,” he added.

Next, he said about the deceased, "Isn't entertainment a thing of the past? That's why he ad-libbed. But I think he mainly listened. This was very unusual. I thought that Jinri was a person like this," and "Kindness and consideration are different things. "Kindness is something that is shown, and consideration is not shown. There are not many people who act with a clear distinction between them, but he was a person who knew how to distinguish between kindness and consideration," he said, remembering the late Sulli as a person who was very considerate.

Director Jeong said that he was “straight and sincere” when capturing the deceased’s story in the film. He said, “I received legal advice during the editing stage and constantly checked,” and added, “I meticulously checked several times over the years to see if the edited version of the interview in this film could be infringed in the slightest in terms of protecting the bereaved family and the honor of the deceased.”

Director Jeong Yun-seok said in 'To Jinri', "I greeted the bereaved families from the time I first met them until the movie came out. It's funny when I think about it now, but when they asked me, 'Director, what do you want to say through this movie?' I said this." I started crying.

At the same time, Director Jeong said, "Anyway, the main character filmed the movie and interviewed on the principle of disclosure." He added, "The deceased's words contain many words that raise important topics in our society. It could be a women's issue, a problem for our society, and a problem for the weak." “It could be an issue of equality or an issue of equality. In some ways, it can be thought of as connoting the values that the so-called younger generation considers important, and it is also the story of a mother and daughter,” he said.

He continued, "I ultimately told you why I made this movie because this is not only a movie about the main character Jinri, but it is also a movie for the countless truths of this land who miss him, and it is a movie that is as true as its name, a movie that has meaning in itself. “I thought it would work,” he said.

Director Jeong said, “Many people are still sad, and I thought about how I could comfort their hearts,” and tried to express it with a fairytale-like imagination using the setting of ‘Dorothy.’ He said, "We included Dorothy's journey in the animation part. The setting of ascending to the sky at the end has left us, but if we think of the deceased as Dorothy, I think she may have returned to her hometown."

It was said that the message of the movie was contained in the ending. Director Jeong said, “Isn’t it an ending that questions the weight of words? The deceased also asks, ‘Where is the weight of my words?’” and added, “It was important to end with the main character’s first-person perspective. It was important to note that it is the main character’s film. “It was because I was able to emphasize it. It was important that the speaker was the truth, and I thought that would bring a lot of comfort to the audience,” he explained.

'To Truth' is one episode of 'Persona: Sulli', which was originally planned to be 5 parts, and contains an interview with the late Sulli while she was still alive. This work was invited to the documentary showcase section of the Wide Angle section and was released as a world premiere.

Meanwhile, at this year's Busan International Film Festival, a total of 269 films, including 209 officially invited films from 69 countries and 60 community beef screenings, will meet the audience. The opening film was 'Because I Hate Korea' (Director Jang Geon-jae) starring Go Ah-seong, Kim Woo-gyeom and Joo Jong-hyuk, and the closing film was 'The Emperor of Movies' (Director Ning Hao) starring Yoo Deok-hwa.

Busan Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr